Tonight, I along with two other people who are involved in Food Not Bombs in Hartford, went to speak to some high school kids as part of Learning to Repair the World, a program sponsored by the Charter Oak Cultural Center and HartBeat Ensemble. The young people in the program have discussions with community members about social justice topics and then make a play about it. (The play will be performed on Thursday, April 23 – more details here.)
I was struck by these students as they took part in our discussion, which covered issues of poverty, homelessness, hunger, and the problems inherent in a capitalist society. I found that these students, who ranged in age from around 13 to 17, had a pretty sophisticated awareness of things. For example, the youngest of the group at one point made a concession to the media’s influence on her thinking and presented an even-headed reason as to why people get trapped in poverty.
I guess it was not so much the answers themselves, but also the open-minded and thoughtful way that they approached new ideas that impressed me. The questions they raised about decision-making in a way that does not promote majority rule, for instance, were really valid points; so were their questions about how representation in an anarchist system would be different than representation in the system we have now.
Anyway that is just my piece of commentary for today – I’m feeling optimistic about the possibilities of education. Having a small discussion like this was really cool. And I was wondering do you feel like kids these days have a more sophisticated understanding of things these days? I for one feel like these three kids knew a whole lot more than I did at that age.
Yeah, I was totally blown away by how much they knew and understood about different economies. I was half-expecting to get the typical “people are poor because they’re lazy” excuse, and without blinking one of the students comes back with “people are rich because they are born into it”! It was really refreshing to hear their perspective on these issues.
Also, their questions and critiques about anarchist ideas reminded me how much we really need to put more attention on solutions and not just scream about how horrible things are. People are aware the world is messed up, but we need concrete solutions. I definitely think anarchism can provide some of those answers, but we need to articulate them more often and without a lot of the jargon…which abbey did a great job at!
yeah those kids really impressed me, too. i know a couple other teenagers that know way way way more than i ever did at the age, or even close to that age (ahem, willie and cammy!). i honestly think it has a lot to do with the internet- there’s so much information that’s accessible, that kids don’t really have to rely on their parents’ or their teachers’ opinions and lessons anymore.
as for anarchism, yes, we need to articulate what we are FOR, along with what we are against. however, thankfully, we don’t have a “master plan” to share with everyone, and that’s because we don’t pretend that we “know” everything, including the “Right” way to a more just society that is worth living in.
for the most part, what we know, and what most anyone could agree with, is that the ways we have things organized isn’t really working out. people are suffering, and it need not be this way. i think that’s the first step to realizing our own potential and agency as fucking human animals. and it’s not just humans that are suffering, i think that goes without saying, but i’ll state it explicitly- everything on the planet, and outside the fucking planet (space is trashed, etc) is being ruined, and it is so b/c of us as humans.
so anyway, back to my point- realize that this *possibly* isn’t the best way to organize ourselves, then think about different ways of going about change. one thing that’ll come up to anyone with an open mind and a fucking heart is that domination is bad- in all it’s forms. so asking the state to grant us reform isn’t going to cut it. not only will the state be *unable* to provide the change that is needed to eradicate hunger, homelessness and poverty (ie, most of the status quo is being held in place by the state and capitalism, working together), but it wont be being done collectively. voting is not participating, shaping and creating the world in which you want to live, sorry! anyway, i think consciousness is step no. 1, and that’s why i think community discussions like the one with Learning to Repair the World was extremely important. we should be doing this all the time. we can learn from each other.
thanks for writing this up, meghan!